Passenger dies after high speed chase ends in single-vehicle collision

Published 2:10 pm Monday, May 9, 2022

A female passenger who was in a vehicle that was part of a high speed chase has died in the hospital.

The chase occurred on May, 2 when the driver of a vehicle attempted to elude a checkpoint being conducted in the city limits of Picayune. On that date at about at about 9:32 p.m. deputies where called out to a location along Liberty Road where a single-vehicle collision took place, said Maj. Marc Ogden with the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department.

The deputies arrived to find two people inside the vehicle, 53-year-old Jeffery Brawdy of 126 Huntington Dr., and a woman who Brawdy misidentified, Ogden said.

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The woman was transported to Forrest General Hospital by helicopter while Brawdy was transported via ambulance.

Ogden said the crash appears to be due to Brawdy trying to elude law enforcement.

Picayune Police Department Assistant Chief James Bolton said earlier that evening Brawdy was seen approaching a checkpoint, but tried to avoid the officers staged at that location. When Brawdy fled the area, a police officer attempted to catch up to him, but lost sight of the vehicle and called the chase off after giving a description of the vehicle and direction of travel to dispatch.

Ogden said the woman, later identified as 46-year-old Kerri Phillips, was in critical condition when she was transported by helicopter that day. She is reported to have passed away this past weekend.

The case is still under investigation and charges may be filed against Brawdy at a later date, Ogden said.